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Police officer shoots, kills woman in Mount Airy

A police officer shot and killed a woman in Mount Airy on Saturday afternoon, police said. That woman's family has now retained a high profile attorney, who reached out to the press Sunday morning.

Cincinnati police said officers responding to a disturbance call confronted Erica Collins, 26, wielding a butcher knife at an apartment complex in the 2900 block of High Forest Lane about 1:30 p.m. Saturday.

"The officer, from what witnesses are telling us, asked (the woman) to put down the knife, and he fired two shots. She was struck, and it was a fatal shooting," said Cincinnati Police Chief James Craig.

A witness, who was standing across the parking lot, told investigators she saw Collins arguing with two family members behind a car before she was shot.

"She was standing in one spot. I would have been able to see her come out the side of the car. She was standing right there. She was not even paying attention to the cops. She was yelling at her family members, and (the officer) shot this girl for no reason," said a witness, who asked to remain unidentified.

Collins' family and friends said they want to know how it happened.

"She was a good girl, (she's) not violent (and has) clean record, so I don’t know what happened," said the woman's aunt, LaSoaya Collins.

The incident is under further investigation, police said.

"Again, a knife can be or is a deadly weapon, so I don’t know if she was prepared to throw the weapon or if she was lunging. Those are things that I'm not aware of," Craig said.

A news release from attorney Eric Deters, who was retained by Collins' family, indicates the witnesses he spoke with said no one was in imminent harm when Collins was shot and killed by a police officer.

Collins called 911 for a domestic disturbance, he said, and argued with her sister. Deters said the knife Collins had was to flatten the tires of her sister’s vehicle.

Deters said Collins was not near anyone when she was shot and did not threaten the police officer in any manner.

Deters said they will be filing a federal lawsuit “to allow us to conduct a full discovery of all facts.” He also said they expect the police officer to be prosecuted -- if warranted.

In a statement, Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory said, "I would ask the community to withhold judgement. As we receive information, we will release the information. This will be a transparent investigation as we are accustomed to seeing, and again, I would just express my sorrow. This is a tragic situation."

Police officials said the officer is on administrative leave while the investigation continues.

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